"Snow Leopard Treasure" by MerryLee Rae
Pendant, gold-wire cloisonne enamel 1.75" wide, from the "Treasure" series.
"The animal world must not be compared to Man nor measured by Man. Animals move in an older and more complete world than ours, gifted with instincts we have lost or never attained and communicating by means we shall never understand. They are not lesser creatures, nor are they our brothers. They are other nations, other spirits, sharing with us the splendour and darkness of life on our planet."
Brian Barrow, CAPE TIMES, South Africa.
Welcome to issue three of eNAMEL, a free online newsletter for those interested in vitreous enamel - glass on metal - and the pursuit of excellence.
The Brian Barrow quote above has developed particular meaning for me over the years; I've come to realise that the only objective yardstick with which to measure an artist is how well they understand and consequently are able to depict our world and the living things in it; a politically incorrect view in a post-modern world but nevertheless self-evidently true. So, to our features!
MerryLee Rae is the featured enameller in this issue; a lady whose work I've admired for many years. More of her stuff will appear in the second part of "Enamel and the (female) Nude", the first part of which displays older pieces. The second part (which should be finished in a couple of weeks) displays the work of contemporary enamellers.
The article on guilloche will be a few weeks coming too. Many people have sought information on preparing digital images for the eNAMEL Gallery and so I've knocked up an article on scanning instead. A layman's rummage around in the arcana of image sizing and resolution for use on the internet as an adjunct to the "scanning" page will also appear in due course.
Features in this Issue:
V1 #3 Nov 2001: MerryLee Rae, cloisonne enamel jewelry
V1 #3 Nov 2001: Enamel and the (female) Nude, part 1 - antique & older pieces
V1 #3 Nov 2001: "Alphonse Maria Mucha" (continued)
V1 #3 Nov 2001: Plique-a-jour by the acid-etch method
V1 #3 Nov 2001: Scanning your stuff for eNAMEL Gallery pictures
Other stuff
a) Northern California Enamel Guild's 6th Int. Enamel Exhibition
b) Help Wanted: Brian Irving, pendant info. Bridget Dignan, enamel courses
c) Beginning Cloisonné Workshop, Sharon Scalise, Gulf Coast Museum Of Art.
d) Winter Enamel Workshops, Jaime Frechette, Tom Ellis, @ Bellevue Kentucky.
e) Merrylee Rae's enamel discussion, question & answer page
Some of what's to come:
V1 #4 Jan 2002: Gallen Benson, cloisonne enamel jewellery
V1 #4 Jan 2002: Plique a jour old and new
V1 #4 Jan 2002: Andrew Kay, sculptor & bronze caster
V1 #5 Mar 2002: Hugo Osterman, composite enamels
V1 #5 Mar 2002: Tiz Pozzobon, hand engraver
Any eNAMEL subscriber can now have up to three pieces of their original work in any medium or mix of media displayed in the Online Gallery. Email the pictures to me in JPG form; they should be at least of the quality featured throughout the Newsletter. The service is free.
Email pictures to: pictures@netconnect.com.au
Al Heywood
Alphonse Mucha part 2
Acid-etch plique-a-jour
Enamel & the Nude
Merrylee Rae
Image scanning
picture: Sharon Scalise
